Best and worst manga you’ve read

[SSJ2]

If you haven’t read enough to form an opinion, feel free to include anime.


Best: Berserk

Berserk is well known for being highly inconsistent in quality, and I’d even go as far as to say that its more recent arcs are nauseating. However, Berserk in its peak features perhaps the greatest arc in manga history (in my opinion). Post Golden Age arc when the quality slowly begins to drop, Miura makes up for it by producing some of the most breathtaking art that you will come across. The sheer detail that he has put into his work automatically makes it my number 1 despite the direction it’s heading in now.


Worst: Battle Royale

No words are necessary for this one.

Spoiler

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Best: Ashita no Joe

Those who have read it can definitely see why I'd pick this. The manga presents the excellent character growth of an unjustified miscreant into an inspirational boxer whilst exploring its subject matter as in-depth as possible with solid quality throughout its entirety, including one of the most iconic endings in the medium.

Worst (Fully read): Skyhigh

For fairness sake, I didn't include cashgrab spinoffs such as the FnF manga or the Naruto spinoff about Sarada believing Sakura isn't her mother as they're reliant on a source material and can't be judged without it. As for Skyhigh, it's the epitome of edgy schlock trying to pass itself off as mature with a very pretentious ending, not to mention a premise that makes there no reason to read it when the first arc of Yu Yu Hakusho is a similar thing with far better character writing and no pretentious edge. Only worth reading as entertainment for the comedic factor of some of the panels.

Worst (Including dropped): Boku no Hero Academia

It lacks anything to set it apart from any other Nekketsu Shonen Jump hasn't already done far better before it along with constantly relying on huge plot conveniences and having far lower stakes than it attempts to make the audience believe it has. Was only able to tolerate one volume of it.

 

[Kyo]

Best (singular arc): Berserk's Golden Age for the reasons already stated.

Best (entire work): Oyasumi Punpun. Grim coming of age story that hits different. Only thing I was a tad tiffy on the first time around was how it ended. I would go into it more but it's kinda hard tbh.

Worst (entire work): Kanojo ni Naru Hi. Okay, I'm technically cheating here so let me explain. I originally read this when it was a completed 5 chapter work as sort of an experiment and hated it, but whatever, it was done with. At some point I noticed on MAL that it was marked as "publishing" again so I assume it got picked back up and the writer was adding more content (the original 5 chapters had an ending, so). I chose not to read the additional 15 chapters that were eventually written because why would I? Regardless, the first 5 chapters were at one point a fully completed work that told a contained story so that's what I'm picking. The concept was gender bender and basically if there's a mismatch of men and women in the world, some will transform into the other to even it out to 50-50. The plot and character developments were nonsensical as all hell and the ending made no sense (not that I remember it very well). That being said, there's probably way worse out there but I just haven't read a ton of manga yet.

The worst when considering individual arcs within a longer work (which is also technically the above, but shut up) would be stuff like Bleach's Fullbring arc or Shokugeki no Soma's last arc (for the latter, imagine that it's basically just that manga's Fullbring arc; even the fans turned on it, just like Bleach's, and imo it was not that great of a manga in the first place already, so yeah).

 

[Warmmedown]

Worst: Punpun. Dropped that degen shit. Guy has an easy life but I'm supposed to see him as facing hardship and thus give him a pass for acting weird and weak. It's a privileged person's idea of a deep or raw manga. The type to overstate their problems (appropriation of hardship basically), because they have zero breadth of perspective - and unfortunately in the world people often gobble it up, rather than calling it out, which leads to those privileged people receiving even more privilege in the form of political endorsement, healthcare and social services provision and systems being designed to accommodate them (non-complex example being the amount of female-only provision for those either escaping or recovering from any sort of domestic abuse, at least in my city, so a female individual who goes through 10% of what a male individual goes through will have much more access to assistance, purely by virtue of people before her overstating female hardship. Same for some other affirmative action-adjacent practices. There are more complex examples that have nothing to do with gender, but they're too complex to explain here. But people with easy lives go through a tiny bit of hardship make a lot of noise (because they're used to an easy life they have higher expectations of what the "norm" is/expect a better life and see it as a big deal, whereas if they'd always had that hardship they're unlikely to make noise because it's their "norm" (or in some cases the nature of the issue itself prevents them making noise) - so ironically those in a worse situation, literally because of their worse situation, oftentimes make less noise) and then systems are designed to accommodate the noise-makers. Covid was a highly-visible example - people suddenly lost freedoms and suffered physical and psychological consequences, they complained a lot and then stuff about the impact of isolation or lack of freedom became a talking point in the media and politics and systems (such as healthcare) shift to accommodate their needs. But there was never discussion pre-covid about those experiencing isolation or lack of freedom for other reasons such as disability or coercive control). Also boring lack of realism, as in I want to see realistic family life and realistic psychological reactions. Generally I found a lot of Japanese drama comics whiny and unrealistically melodramatic (like they all try to kill themselves or cut their wrists because someone in school said something mean or someone broke up with them), like they want to show the potential effects of hardship but without actually having the character go through anything and without exploring the depths of their psychological path to reaching that point, which is why I preferred Korean drama comics, which come across as more realistic. Also generally has shitty life lessons from what I've seen, like the whole "even if you sprint you'll never catch up" line (saw it mentioned in a video yesterday), which is nonsense on multiple levels (I concede I have no idea how the speaking character is presented. Still, do I wanna read about a bunch of morally bankrupt people? May as well browse 4chan. If it's to laugh at the group, schadenfreude is sad and for losers). 3/10. I find its inaccurate portrayal of life to be bad writing, rather than only disliking it.

The only 2/10s I gave are https://myanimelist.net/manga/17473/Ane_Pani and https://myanimelist.net/manga/71353/Doukyuusei_no_Macho-kun (body goals. At least it's original).

Also "Dog Nigga". Not sure if it's really a manga, but guy called Rex with a dog head was conceived when a drunk man raped a dog, causing Rex to be a dog-human, which he's angry about. He wants to get revenge on his human father by finding and raping him. Edgelord manga.


Also this was pretty trash, like the bad stereotype of an anime fan's idea of a good story. I only read it cuz it was short and I found a Portuguese translation: https://myanimelist.net/manga/149268/Renai_Jakusha_demo_App_de_Koi_ga_Shitai_no_da

I mostly don't end up reading manga I find bad or dislike, cuz I'm selective about what I start in the first place. The bad ones I read were for reading challenges.

Best is Dorohedoro, omoide emanon
the fable (you can tell the author is an older person, from the maturity of the themes and dialogue. I've been meaning to read more seinen drama when I get back into manga. Every character's well-written, even the female ones, which is where some shounen/seinen fail), Shino-chan (short but good). They're strong manga until the end, from what I've read or heard.

Also I've not finished them but liar game, chi no wadachi (maybe it declines loads, idk), I am a Hero (superb horror, mystery, action, drama and well-written characters that feel real, until a rushed ending)
Skip and Loafer (SoL with likeable but varied personality characters. While Punpun encourages degeneracy this encourages living kindly, earnestly and hopefully).
Sweat and Soap.
Again!! - I found the characters and their dialogue psychologically/behaviourally realistic. It's a little like NHK or Onani Master (quiet, socially anxious MC), but instead the MC isn't a degen and is a well-intentioned person (Onani is a dick, NHK likes perverted stuff). This and I am a Hero were the first manga where I felt like there were no jumps in character and it feels like I'm really following real people. Admittedly, it could go to shit cuz the MC (and another character who also fell down the stairs) is living in two timelines (the present and the past. When he's awake in one he's in a coma in the other) and that's hard to wrap up.

I have other faves, but sometimes the writing is bad. Like Lookism is cool and looks at aspects of life that other manga don't, but it's also dumb sometimes. Also it's funny how the MC has an unattractive body and a super handsome one, and when I looked up the author he almost exactly looks like the handsome one lol.
Some that influenced me the most aren't the best. Two of my favourite quotes that stuck with me, came from an alright SoL manga (3am dangerous zone) and an erotica manhwa.

Ofc, I clearly only came here to rag on Punpun.

 

[Yoshi]

Best: Berserk

I agree with the opinion that the Golden Age Arc is the best Story Arc in Manga, even if it is still overrated. The Black Swordsman Arc is the second best Story Arc within the Berserk Manga too, in spite of a few inconsistencies it has compared to later Story Arcs. The Lost Children Arc is a poor man’s Black Swordsman Arc, and the Conviction Arc is excellent but it can be unnecessarily convoluted. The Millennium Falcon Arc is underrated as I feel like there is still some incentive to follow Guts’ story even though Griffith’s became more interesting in comparison. Sea God and Fantasia are both low quality in comparison to every other Berserk Story Arc but are still solid. Berserk Post Miura is terrible though.

Worst: My Hero Academia

 

[Mystic]

Worst: Punpun. Dropped that degen shit. Guy has an easy life but I'm supposed to see him as facing hardship and thus give him a pass for acting weird and weak. It's a privileged person's idea of a deep or raw manga. The type to overstate their problems (appropriation of hardship basically), because they have zero breadth of perspective - and unfortunately in the world people often gobble it up, rather than calling it out, which leads to those privileged people receiving even more privilege in the form of political endorsement, healthcare and social services provision and systems being designed to accommodate them (non-complex example being the amount of female-only provision for those either escaping or recovering from any sort of domestic abuse, at least in my city, so a female individual who goes through 10% of what a male individual goes through will have much more access to assistance, purely by virtue of people before her overstating female hardship. Same for some other affirmative action-adjacent practices. There are more complex examples that have nothing to do with gender, but they're too complex to explain here. But people with easy lives go through a tiny bit of hardship make a lot of noise (because they're used to an easy life they have higher expectations of what the "norm" is/expect a better life and see it as a big deal, whereas if they'd always had that hardship they're unlikely to make noise because it's their "norm" (or in some cases the nature of the issue itself prevents them making noise) - so ironically those in a worse situation, literally because of their worse situation, oftentimes make less noise) and then systems are designed to accommodate the noise-makers. Covid was a highly-visible example - people suddenly lost freedoms and suffered physical and psychological consequences, they complained a lot and then stuff about the impact of isolation or lack of freedom became a talking point in the media and politics and systems (such as healthcare) shift to accommodate their needs. But there was never discussion pre-covid about those experiencing isolation or lack of freedom for other reasons such as disability or coercive control). Also boring lack of realism, as in I want to see realistic family life and realistic psychological reactions. Generally I found a lot of Japanese drama comics whiny and unrealistically melodramatic (like they all try to kill themselves or cut their wrists because someone in school said something mean or someone broke up with them), like they want to show the potential effects of hardship but without actually having the character go through anything and without exploring the depths of their psychological path to reaching that point, which is why I preferred Korean drama comics, which come across as more realistic. Also generally has shitty life lessons from what I've seen, like the whole "even if you sprint you'll never catch up" line (saw it mentioned in a video yesterday), which is nonsense on multiple levels (I concede I have no idea how the speaking character is presented. Still, do I wanna read about a bunch of morally bankrupt people? May as well browse 4chan. If it's to laugh at the group, schadenfreude is sad and for losers). 3/10. I find its inaccurate portrayal of life to be bad writing, rather than only disliking it.

The only 2/10s I gave are https://myanimelist.net/manga/17473/Ane_Pani and https://myanimelist.net/manga/71353/Doukyuusei_no_Macho-kun (body goals. At least it's original).

Also "Dog Nigga". Not sure if it's really a manga, but guy called Rex with a dog head was conceived when a drunk man raped a dog, causing Rex to be a dog-human, which he's angry about. He wants to get revenge on his human father by finding and raping him. Edgelord manga.


Also this was pretty trash, like the bad stereotype of an anime fan's idea of a good story. I only read it cuz it was short and I found a Portuguese translation: https://myanimelist.net/manga/149268/Renai_Jakusha_demo_App_de_Koi_ga_Shitai_no_da

I mostly don't end up reading manga I find bad or dislike, cuz I'm selective about what I start in the first place. The bad ones I read were for reading challenges.

Best is Dorohedoro, omoide emanon
the fable (you can tell the author is an older person, from the maturity of the themes and dialogue. I've been meaning to read more seinen drama when I get back into manga. Every character's well-written, even the female ones, which is where some shounen/seinen fail), Shino-chan (short but good). They're strong manga until the end, from what I've read or heard.

Also I've not finished them but liar game, chi no wadachi (maybe it declines loads, idk), I am a Hero (superb horror, mystery, action, drama and well-written characters that feel real, until a rushed ending)
Skip and Loafer (SoL with likeable but varied personality characters. While Punpun encourages degeneracy this encourages living kindly, earnestly and hopefully).
Sweat and Soap.
Again!! - I found the characters and their dialogue psychologically/behaviourally realistic. It's a little like NHK or Onani Master (quiet, socially anxious MC), but instead the MC isn't a degen and is a well-intentioned person (Onani is a dick, NHK likes perverted stuff). This and I am a Hero were the first manga where I felt like there were no jumps in character and it feels like I'm really following real people. Admittedly, it could go to shit cuz the MC (and another character who also fell down the stairs) is living in two timelines (the present and the past. When he's awake in one he's in a coma in the other) and that's hard to wrap up.

I have other faves, but sometimes the writing is bad. Like Lookism is cool and looks at aspects of life that other manga don't, but it's also dumb sometimes. Also it's funny how the MC has an unattractive body and a super handsome one, and when I looked up the author he almost exactly looks like the handsome one lol.
Some that influenced me the most aren't the best. Two of my favourite quotes that stuck with me, came from an alright SoL manga (3am dangerous zone) and an erotica manhwa.

Ofc, I clearly only came here to rag on Punpun.

I respect your opinion but I completely and wholeheartedly disagree. I think Punpun is one of the best works I've read.

For the best: Monster

Worst: I can't think of anything.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

Punpun sucks. It’s no good & for evil people.

MONSTER is amazing though. Your taste is conflicted.

 

[Papasmurf]

Best: Berserk

I agree with the opinion that the Golden Age Arc is the best Story Arc in Manga, even if it is still overrated. The Black Swordsman Arc is the second best Story Arc within the Berserk Manga too, in spite of a few inconsistencies it has compared to later Story Arcs. The Lost Children Arc is a poor man’s Black Swordsman Arc, and the Conviction Arc is excellent but it can be unnecessarily convoluted. The Millennium Falcon Arc is underrated as I feel like there is still some incentive to follow Guts’ story even though Griffith’s became more interesting in comparison. Sea God and Fantasia are both low quality in comparison to every other Berserk Story Arc but are still solid. Berserk Post Miura is terrible though.

Worst: My Hero Academia

Agreed, I agree with MHA being awful too from what little I've seen (and know of the ending). If Mori wasn't going to expand on parts of the story he didn't fully remember he should've just pitched in what he does remember and handed it to a competent novelist, like that guy who wrote the Grunbeld novel. I feel like current Berserk without Miura is a bunch of amateur assistants trying and failing to capture his style, with some of the most wooden dialogue possible (on top of bad pacing). I'm literally just skimming the chapters because they are so damn boring.